Readers' Guide to Racial Bias in the Mass Media

 With the explosion of mass media and its availability to more people than ever before in Europe, how the media manages and monitors its attitudes and beliefs towards issues of racism and how they’re covered is crucial for the fair representation of everybody on a local and international level.

The media is collectively responsible for the influence it has on society as it feeds its audience with attitudes, beliefs and stereotypes that are then devoured so willingly by our collective unconscious or, perhaps, conscious, thus creating new negative ideas surrounding different groups in society.

Every media outlet should then continually ensure the presence of any act of inequality is wiped from their organisation’s belief system if they are to commit to enhancing and improving society rather than hindering its progress.

This may be tough task, however, as in the US less than 2% of those working in news media are made up of racial minorities, those with disabilities or aboriginals. Stronger representation is key to impose counter views and beliefs to those that currently drive the majority.

UNESCO promotes safe freedom of expression for all but how can we all exchange and share knowledge via mass media and furthermore trust those shaping it if it those in the majority that hold most of the expression?

This is particularly worrying when we consider the different ways in which black and white males, for example, are reported and portrayed in the media for similar violent crimes. Media institutions presenting with racial bias, whether vividly or subtly, coupled with the fact the media is so influential, is a testament to how vital it is that all media and individuals are reporting and representing everybody in a way that does not hinder the progress of equality in the media.

You, the audience member and contributor of all forms of media, have the power to control what messages and beliefs you choose to mimic and uphold. Awareness is key and we must demand these basic standards of fairness from all media providers. So make the choices that reflect change, diversity and fairness in your media.

Below is a guide to help both audience and contributor of mass media alike, engage in fair reporting, advertising and entertainment and so fully enjoy the power of media. 

•Be vigilant when being sold a service or product in the latest clothing or gaming ad campaign. How, for example, are the characters portrayed in a gaming campaign, are avatars overly stereotypical? Is the black man always the gun wielding car thief in the latest violent video game?

•Watch out for how we identify a certain race through images, sounds or words used by media. Ideally no group or individual should be categorised by a sound or image.

•Likewise does some media paint an assumption to the reader or audience about where some races may live? What particular cars they might drive? How sexually overt they may be or not? How they live and work?    

•Be aware of wording used to describe an alleged suspect in a news report. There is no reason why a reporter or a news agency should describe a person’s race unless it is absolutely relevant.

•If it is relevant however, choose wording carefully. The word ‘coloured’ is not appropriate but rather the NUJ advises the use of the word black to imply those of African, Asian or Arabic origin. It’s OK to ask how one defines themselves if you are interviewing them.

•Don’t assume someone’s racial background or guess their possible religion based on their name, this is highly presumptuous and offensive.  

•Your favourite news publication might be your go to source for trusted accuracy but they too may get it wrong. Question everything!

•Ask yourself, due to the continued impact of offending media inequality, do individuals from different races have fewer opportunities and experiences than me due to media assumptions and portrayal?

•Choose your news sources and entertainment carefully but never stop questioning and remain vigilant! 

Be part of the collaboration of justice and fairness for all and above all except nothing less than the clear facts in your news and equality across all platforms.

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The Critical Media Project (2015) Available at:

http://www.criticalmediaproject.org/cml/topicbackground/race-ethnicity/ & NUJ Guidelines on Race Reporting (2007). Available at: http://www.dochas.ie/Shared/Files/7/Guidelines_on_Race_Reporting.pdf

Racist Crime in the EU: Increasing, Under-Reported, Destroying Lives

by Georgina Siklossy, Communication and Press Officer with ENAR

Racist crime recently made its way into the headlines with the start of the landmark trial of elected politicians of Greece’s far-right Golden Dawn party, including the party leader. They are accused of orchestrating a string of attacks against immigrants, leftists and gay people.

This is, however, a rare occurrence. Most racist crime incidents are kept invisible due to gaps in police and criminal justice systems – despite the fact that every year thousands of people are victims of unprovoked, often extremely violent crime, motivated simply because of the real or perceived colour of people’s skin, ethnicity or religion.

This is particularly the case in Ireland, one of the few European countries without any legislation recognising the hate or bias motivation of racist crime and taking it into consideration for the purpose of investigation, prosecution and sentencing.

Black and Asian ethnic minorities, Roma, Jews and Muslims – or those perceived as such, are those most vulnerable to racist crime, according to ENAR’s latest Shadow Report on racist crime in Europe, covering 26 European countries.

A total of 47,210 racist crimes were officially recorded in 2013 in the 26 countries covered in the report, but this is only the tip of the iceberg. Most EU Member States do not properly record and report racially motivated crimes. In some countries there is no official or systematic data collection of racially motivated crimes; and in others, including, Ireland, information about the racial, ethnic or religious background of the victims is not disaggregated.

In addition, because they feel ashamed, do not trust the police, or think their testimony will not change anything, many victims often do not come forward to report racist crimes. It does not help that they are also often treated with suspicion by police and emergency workers. Another issue, highlighted in Ireland, is the fact that asylum seekers, migrants and refugees are particularly reluctant to report crimes for fear of deportation or unfair treatment because of their migration status.

The investigation and prosecution of racist crimes is also problematic. Ireland stands out in this respect as the Irish criminal code currently does not have a provision to deal with racist crime. This results in incidents not being recorded, investigated or prosecuted properly. It is at the discretion of judges to consider racist motive as a factor when determining a sentence in a case.

Under-qualification of racist crimes – i.e. treating a crime motivated by hate as a less severe crime or as a crime committed without a bias motive – takes place throughout the justice system, from police reporting to court judgements. In Ireland for instance, a man believed to have links with the small neo-Nazi Democratic Right Movement was found guilty of assault by Mullingar District Court but in spite of having shouted “Paki” at his victim, the judge said that “this does not make him a racist”.

Racist crime is one of the worst implications of racism, a threat to people’s lives, safety, health and property on the sole basis of their real or perceived race, ethnic origin or religion, and it should not go unpunished. Racist crimes are message crimes, which have detrimental consequences beyond the victims: their whole community is threatened as potential next victims, and possible escalation can put liberal and democratic societies at risk. Ireland, as all other EU Member States, must step up efforts in this area. It should ensure that existing EU legislation on combating racist crime – although imperfect – is properly implemented. Beyond this, it should strengthen the legal framework so that it recognises and clearly defines racially motivated crimes, provides for real obligations to investigate the racist motivation, and punishes these crimes more severely. We also need better training for the police and all law enforcement and criminal justice staff on racist crime, as well as adequate support offered to victims of racist crimes. Real political will is urgently needed to ensure better reporting, recording and sanctioning of racist crimes.

Lets Talk About White Privilege

In this blog post, I’m going to talk about the often misunderstood issue of white privilege. Before I do so, I want to briefly mention a few things about racism which many of you will already be aware of. 

It is important to understand that notions of race and racial difference are constructions first and foremost, based on human invention as opposed to any biological or scientific fact.  Instead, racial differences have been constructed socially and discursively in an attempt to serve the political interests of a particular section of society.  In After Empire (2004) Paul Gilroy asserts that ‘“race” refers primarily to an impersonal, discursive arrangement, the brutal result of the raciological ordering of the world, not its cause’.  Racism then is the ideology that sustains discrimination on the grounds of perceived racial differences, claiming that these constructions are true.  Some of you might question my inclusion of these facts, for it seems as though I am merely stating the obvious.  However, the fact remains that countless numbers of well-meaning individuals are unaware that race is a historical construct and not a biological fact, and so I feel it is something worth mentioning.  

There are numerous obvious manifestations of racism with which we are all familiar including hate crimes, racial slurs and the most insidious – systemic racism.  Yet, there is another more subtle manifestation of racism that continues to sustain the continuation of the racial status quo.  It is called ‘white privilege’ and is representative of the societal privileges benefiting white people in Western countries.  Such privileges are not usually experienced by non-white people under the very same social, political, and economic circumstances.  In a collection of essays entitled Darkwater: Voices from Within the Veil (1920) Sociologist and Civil rights activist, W.E.B. Du Bois critiqued white supremacy as a system of exploitation, oppression and violence.  In his essay, he asserts that white people are associated with the creation of a global racial hierarchy, creating horrendous conditions that must be endured by black people.  Almost a century later, the Western society critiqued by Du Bois remains a hierarchical one.

It is important to mention that white privilege is not necessarily something that people consciously create or do in their day to day lives.  The thing about white privilege is that people remain oblivious to the wealth of unearned assets and perks that are so freely available to them, and which can be drawn on daily without a second thought.  While white privilege does not imply guilt for injustices you have not created, nor choose to benefit from, the fact remains that if you have white skin, you benefit.  Peggy McIntosh’s famous essay “White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack” contains a list of the daily effects of white privilege experienced by her.  Included among this list are some of the following:

‘When I am told about our national heritage or about “civilization,” I am shown that people of my colour made it what it is.’

‘I can be sure that my children will be given curricular materials that testify to the existence of their race.’

‘If I want to, I can be pretty sure of finding a publisher for this piece on white privilege.’

‘I can be pretty sure of having my voice heard in a group in which I am the only member of my race.’

‘I can arrange to protect my children most of the time from people who might not like them.’

‘I do not have to educate my children to be aware of systemic racism for their own daily physical protection.’

If you are a white person living in the Western hemisphere, as you scroll through the list, you will undoubtedly find yourself adding to it as you discover the numerous unearned perks/advantages you did not realise you experience daily.  This proved to be true in my case, at least.

It is very easy to see clear incidences of systemic racism and white privilege in countries like South Africa or America, for instance.  One need only think about Michael Brown of Ferguson, John Crawford and Tamir Rice of Ohio, Eric Garner of New York, and most recently Freddie Gray of Baltimore, all of whom were killed by members of the police force.  Their deaths have put a global spotlight on the racial disparities inherent in America’s criminal justice system.  Is it so easy to spot white privilege closer to home though?  I recently had a discussion with a friend who insisted that white privilege is not an issue in Ireland.  It surprised me and reinforced my belief that our lack of awareness regarding privilege is something that needs to be challenged head-on.  It also led me to think about the difficulties inherent in addressing such a subtle yet ingrained form of racism.  In order to address this kind of privilege, we must first acknowledge its existence.  In her essay, McIntosh states that ‘as a white person, [she] realised [she] had been taught about racism as something that put others at a disadvantage, but had been taught not to see one of its corollary aspects, white privilege, which put [her] at an advantage.’  If we are to create space for the open and frank discussion of white privilege, we need to do so through education and awareness.  With that, comes accountability.

 

Additional Note:

While writing this blog post, I came across a fascinating project being carried out by researchers at Harvard.  It is called Project Implicit and assesses thoughts and feelings that occur outside of conscious awareness or control based on a series of tests.  For anyone interested in taking part, follow the link: [https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/takeatest.html]

 

Ruth Daly

 

References

DuBois, W.E.B. Darkwater: Voices from Within the Veil (Dover Publications, 1999)

Gilroy, Paul. After Empire: Melancholia or Convivial Culture? (Routledge, 2004)

McIntosh, Peggy. “White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack” (1988) [http://amptoons.com/blog/files/mcintosh.html]

That Was Then, This Is Now

by Anonymous

My story begins in 1988. The new wave of mass emigration from Ireland in the 1980s was a different animal altogether. Emigration was most concentrated at two ends of the class/education/wealth spectrum. Unskilled and semi-skilled workers were still leaving in droves and I was one of them.

 “The world is your oyster”, my mammy said. I had just been for a second interview as a trainee manager within the hotel industry and had been successfully. Out of the 350 people from around Ireland who applied for the job only 35 people were selected and I was one of them. I couldn’t believe it I had got the job. My whole family were so excited. I was going to Las Vegas. Although I was very excited myself, I was also a bit apprehensive as I had never been outside Ireland before and I could sense from my mam and dad, while they were happy for me they were nervous about the idea too. But they knew that opportunities like this only came once in a life time. Not only did I have a very good relationship with my parents but I was also daddy’s little girl out of the 5 children my daddy doted on me the most.

The day came for me to set off on my adventure and all my family came to the airport to see me off. I remember in particular my dad holding me in an embrace so tight I thought I was going to faint. “You take care now and be safe I love you Catherine”, he said.  My heart was breaking and I cried tears of joy and sadness.

I arrived in Las Vegas dumb struck. The place was amazing everywhere was opened 24 hours, nowhere shut. The strip at night was lit up like a great big disco ball it was fantastic. After two weeks of orientation and training we were all given our shifts to work in the Las Vegas Hilton Hotel. I had made a lot of friends and when we had time off we would go out and about exploring all the different casinos in Las Vegas. It was all so incredible and wonderful. Life couldn’t have been better!

Then one night while a few friends and I were out in a bar having a few drinks and listening to the band that was playing. I noticed the guy that was playing the saxophone; he was so handsome all my friends thought so too. We both exchanged glances and before the end of the night we were laughing and talking about everything and anything, we hit it off real well his name was Kenny. Life had just got better!

Everything was fantastic I and Kenny were going strong and I had told my parents about him too. They were so happy for me especially my daddy and he said that he couldn’t wait to meet him. My work visa had finished and I had to return home to Ireland. I was devastated on having to leave Kenny and he felt the same way too. We decided that we would have a long distance relationship as neither of us wanted to be without the other. Kenny had promised to come to Ireland to visit and I had promised that I would also go back to America on holidays.

After lots of tears and hugs I took out some of the photos I had taken and was showing them to my family. Then within that one second of having my life complete my whole world was turned upside down “Jeysus he’s black” my sister shouted. My dad grabbed the photo and I seen the look of disgust and disappointment in his face as he inspected it. “No Niger will ever step foot in my home and I will certainly not allow any daughter of mine to be seen with one” and he stomped out of the room. Silence fell around the room. My mother asked why I had not told them and I said that I didn’t think that it was relevant. I loved him no matter of his colour race or religion. And I was going to continue to be with him

The day came for Kenny to arrive. I met him at the airport and the love that we had for each other was even stronger than before. He knew that there was something wrong and asked me what was bothering me. The gut feeling I had in my stomach was wrenching I felt like I was going to vomit I broke down in tears “my father is racist” I said. I had never known this before and I had never even spoken the word before, it was all too much. “Don’t worry darling we will stay in a hotel”, Kenny said, because we had decided initially to stay with my parents. When I told my father he told me that if I stayed with him in the hotel that I was not welcome in this house again.

Having to choose between the two men in my life that I loved the most was the most difficult thing I had to do. I had never thought before now, that love could be so difficult, hard unfair and racist. I naively thought that love was equal and just among all.

We spent the next two weeks in a hotel in Dublin and Kenny did not meet any of my family as my father had forbidden it. Although I brushed this aside for the sake of Kenny there were many other incidents that occurred during his visit to Ireland that made me realise how negative people were on accepting people from other countries, and cultures into their society.

Besides all the looks and slide remarks that we got when we were out together it didn’t have any hindrance on our love for one another. One example of theses was when we were walking down O’ Connell street and two white Irish lads made a comment, saying” isn’t your own good enough for you love” my reply was “well not if there like you ignorant f….”. I was not only shocked at their racist remarks but with my own reply as I would never have talked in that way to anyone. My blood was boiling, I was outraged not only because of what the two lads had said but also because of the feelings I felt towards them I didn’t hate those two lads but I certainly didn’t like them either. This was not my character I couldn’t understand it. I’d never had such bad feelings towards anyone in my life before. 

Kenny told me although he had experienced racism before and the majority of the time it didn’t bother him he said that he felt like he was living in a time warp and that Ireland had a long way to go before we could accept that all people are the same no matter what colour, race or religion they are. That was 25 years ago and although our relationship ended because we lived so far away from each other, we still remained friends.

Kenny was the first black person I had ever met. Back in Ireland in the 1980s if you walked down O’Connell street and seen a Chinese, Japanese or black person (which was quite rare) you automatically thought that they were on holidays. Now over 500,000 foreign nationals are calling Ireland home. We have come a long way but we still have a long way to go. Even though we live in a society were multiculturalism, globalisation and cultural diversity is more customary, there will always be those slide remarks, presumptions and in cases violent behaviours that need to be overcome.

As for my father, he is now more aware of not how different people are but how different we can be in realising that we are all the same no matter of race, creed or colour.

Racism in Ireland; An Angled View Through Real Life Encounters

By John Mc Cormack

Racism was something that I once had only heard of. To me it was something portrayed on TV and in movies that how showed African Americans were once treated in America.  As a child and a teenager I believed that these encounters of racism towards blacks, often very inhumane treatments, were records of the past, and were now displayed in a form of historical story-telling that brought tension and interest for the viewer.  Soon, topics of socialization during secondary level education brought to light the realities of racism, and that racist behaviour still existed. Until this point I had still not experienced any racial discrimination on a personal level, or witnessed it inflicted on anyone else.  Having experienced bullying to a large degree, I held a degree of empathy with the hurt that can be endured by the unnecessary treatment from one person to another because of how a person looks or where they come from. The one thing I did not understand was how and why people could possess the evil characteristics it takes to do this.

Years later I travelled overseas, open to accept the ways of other nations. In doing so, I also learned that the racism I once saw in movies and on TV did not only exist as an entertaining form of history, but in the shocking reality of the present.

Two memorable incidents on two distantly separated continents remain very clear. Although both were non-direct, and part of an opinionated conversation the mentality of the perpetrators to hatefully separate humans into very different categories in such a manner shocked me.

The first incident was in the U.S.A. where an employer was advising me where to find accommodation for the duration of my stay. I was advised not to buy or rent in a particular area because it was “full of n…”....” once they move into an area, they destroy it”. I questioned my employer’s view, only to receive the response that “when you live around them long enough you will know”. 

The second encounter happened in Australia, where another employer, angered by an employee not showing up said “Sure he’s only a dirty Abbo” When I also questioned this statement, the man replied “Yes, all Abbos, Aboriginals, are useless drunks, they’re primitive, they should be rounded up, given some land, fenced off, and let them live there, away from normal people, because they are not normal”.

 Although non-direct or physical, the incidents I described are clearly racial, and I use them because they were my initial encounters of very outgoing racist comments from people I knew at nearly opposite areas of the globe. In both incidents I found the people in question (victims) to be very likable and one remains a friend today.  

There is clearly racism, and discrimination joins it hand in hand. I believe both come in many forms and begin as a mind-set, progressing to a verbal stage (as the two examples) on to actions and physical behaviour. 

But is there racism in Ireland? Let me explain that in a very personal way. Discrimination falls under many categories, often not involving clear race/ethnic differences. I say this because the most outrageous and discriminating incidents I encountered were attacks on myself by fellow Irish men with enormous hatred towards me being from Dublin. The attacks were physical assaults, one causing grievous bodily harm, and the other causing property damage. Both were based on the fact that I was not from the area of Ireland where these attacks took place, and in both cases it was clearly stated that I was from Dublin and did not belong in these rural areas. ‘Jackeen’ and ‘Blow in’ are discriminative terms still used in rural areas of Ireland towards Dublin people or people not born in those particular areas.  Perhaps also here refer to the experiences of travellers? Who despite being of the same ethnicity/religion they are very much discriminated against perhaps in ways that parallel those of black Americans and Australian aborigines

The little country of beauty with some remaining primitive ways, still holding a reputation of being welcoming and friendly, may only hold valid to ‘money-spending’ tourists and certain nationalities.

In the same way that most of the world opened its doors to Irish immigrants to come and share their way of life, when Ireland became part of the E.U. it opened its doors to foreign nationals to come here share our way of life. But the famous Irish welcome may not have greeted all that came. While I did not witness any cases myself, I know there have been many cases of racist attacks due to their exposure in the media. I see good caused by the exposure of racial discrimination in Ireland and I feel there has been a certain amount of fear injected into the minds of members of the Irish public not to behave in a racist manner.

As mentioned at the start, my experience of bullying helped me empathize with the endurance of racism abroad, but now I have empathy towards people of a different race living in Ireland due to the experiences of hate I endured from fellow Irish. What I once had to travel to see, I shamefully see deeply ingrained in many of the people of my country of birth, Ireland.

Although racial acts may have decreased in Ireland, or at least that is what the media portrays, I feel that many Irish people possess the ability to hold a deep hate towards others who are not local. While I think it is great that many of the racist cases were addressed, I feel that discrimination, race based or not, need to be the main focus. I think every act that stems outside the norms of how society should treat each other, no matter who is the victim, needs to be treated for the crime it is.

The Colour of Our Skin

There are still a lot of people in the world that continue to judge others based on the colour of their skin. All they see is someone who looks different from them and they spew hate and intolerance. The sad fact is that this is happening on a daily basis throughout the world. Skin colour has been used to identify various human race ( which has been and still is a controversial method). So if people are going to use this as a way to identify race they should know more about why and how we have a wonderful array of colours of skin.

Over the years scientists have been trying to figure out the human body and how we have evolved. They have used various experiments and trials to try to learn more. They have discovered that we all have Melanin which is a pigment produced by cells called melanocytes. Melanin is responsible for the colour of our skin.

Our bodies produce Melanin to protect our skin and DNA from UV radiation. UV radiation can cause skin cancer, affect folic acid as well as a number of other complications. Therefore people who are exposed to UV light (sun) will produce more Melanin which darkens our skin to protect it. From learning this it only makes sense that countries that have more sunlight and stronger UV radiation will have darker coloured skin as more Melanin will be produced to protect the skin.

Like most genetic traits the amount of Melanin produced in a person is inherited from their ancestors. So being born with darker skin usually is a indicator that your ancestors lived in a sunny place. So the only thing that determines the colour of a persons skin is the amount of Melanin produced.

Another interesting scientific fact that has recently emerged that your DNA and that of any other person in the world is 99% identical. That's right, the person you thought was so different from you is only 1% different.